Modern Teen Beatified on Saturday in Rome
(September 25, 2010) Chiara Badano a modern teenager was beatified on Saturday, September 25th at 4 p.m. at the shrine of Divine Love in Rome, during a ceremony presided over by Archbishop Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints' Causes, representing Pope Benedict XVI. Chiara was a member of the Focolare Movement, founded in Italy by Chiara Lubich in 1943. As a young girl, she liked to sing, dance, play tennis and skate. She loved the mountains and the sea. She was also regular for her daily Mass. One day, at age 17, while playing tennis the adolescent felt an acute pain. She returned home and was in agony. Doctors soon discovered that she had bone cancer. As the disease progressed, Badano faced repeated hospitalizations and increasing pain. She often repeated, "For you, Jesus. If you wish it, so do I." Chiara underwent surgery, which was unsuccessful; from that moment she lost the use of her legs. She spent several months in agony, preparing for her encounter with Jesus. Her parents said that she didn't cry, didn't lament, she just looked at the image of Jesus. Chiara wished to prepare her own funeral: the songs of the Mass, the dress and hairdo: Everything was for her a celebration. She also told that she wanted to be buried in a white dress, as a bride that goes to meet Jesus. Chiara requested that the cornea of her eyes be donated to two youths. She died on October 7, 1990. Her last words to her mother were: "Be happy because I'm happy." At 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Pope's secretary of state, is to offer a Mass in thanksgiving in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.
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